Data communication networks operate computer systems to provide various data services. The data services include internet access, media conferencing, file access, messaging, content delivery, and the like. The computer systems process virtual network elements to forward data packets for the data services. The different data services are associated with the virtual network elements that provide their services. The different data services are also associated with Access Point Names (APNs), Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), and other service metadata. In some data communication networks, the computer systems are located at different physical sites.
The virtual network elements include virtual networking machines such as a: Mobility Management Entity (MME), Service Gateway (S-GW), Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), Policy Charging and Rules Function (PCRF), Home Subscriber System (HSS), Baseband Processing Unit (BBU), Radio Resource Control (RRC) processor, Radio Link Control (RLC) processor, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) processor, Media Access Control (MAC) processor, Residential Gateway (R-GW), Set-Top Box (STB), Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) server, Network Address Translation (NAT) firewall, Border Controller (BC), Load Balancer (LB), media server, and network accelerator.
The computer systems employ hypervisor software and context switching circuitry to distribute the execution of the virtual network elements across various processing time cycles. The processing time cycles each have a repeating set of dedicated processing times. The context switching provides the executing virtual network element with its own context data while usually hiding the context data of the other processing time cycles. Some network elements execute during mutually exclusive processing time cycles with context switching to maintain physical isolation. The virtual network elements are installed, executed, and transferred as new data services and networking technologies are implemented. A complex and dynamic virtual network element environment is the result.
The computer systems are also equipped with trust mode systems. The trust mode systems maintain physical separation between the trust mode hardware and software components and other open mode hardware and software components. The trust mode systems allow interaction between open and trusted components through secure bus interfaces, memories, and switching circuits. The trust mode systems build trust with one another by using shared secret keys to exchange random numbers and hash results. Unfortunately, these trust mode systems have not been effectively and efficiently integrated within this complex and dynamic virtual network element environment.